November 28, 1996 - Fond Memories of Times By6A • The Suffolk Times • November 28, 1996
Fond Memories of Times By
I keep two goldfish in my big birdbath
(five feet across) and they do a great job
of keeping it free of mosquito larvae dur-
ing the summer. I also have them in my
ponds, but by the time the temperature
drops, the ones in the ponds seek the safe-
ty of the bottom and pass the winter away
in a sort of semi- dormant state.
I know this to be true, for I removed
two from the shallow birdbath
and put them in a big glass �O
fishbowl in my garage shop,
where they swim around in
the constant pursuit of escape.
As long as it is warm from my Na
shop stove, they keep up their
endless swimming, but when by
I neglect to use the shop and stout
the fire goes out in the stove,
the temperature then drops and they settle
back to their semi - dormant stage. I'll walk
in and flip the light on and there they'll be,
like silent sentries in their watery home.
Then, all I have to do is warm the place up
and they'll be back on their treadmill of
swimming. Of course, they're alive, but
they have been able to put themselves in
that state of suspended animation by low-
ering their heartbeat to almost nothing.
The same phenomena of conserving
energy by lowering heartbeat is employed
by many other animals around us. Take,
for instance, the turtles. We remember
them from the warmer days of summer,
when they basked in the sun on logs and
along the edges of ponds. When winter
comes they, too, are able to settle to the
bottom of a pond and wait out winter's
cold.
reminded me also of how we usea to
spend many a cold but blustery enjoyable
afternoon, and sometimes night, sleigh
riding or ice skating on our familiar hills
and ponds. The best skating we had was
on two shallow ponds on a neighboring
golf course. My folks would drive up in
their old boxcar - looking Dodge to the
edge of the pond, put on the lights and
leave the motor running while
:US we kids would hobble down
in skates to the edge of the
On pond to take off. It was a
wonderful way to spend an
tune evening skating. Seems we
always had hand -me -down
Paul skates that were too big or too
enbulgh small. It mattered not if you
had to wear two or three pairs
of socks or that your feet hurt. We took
everything in stride.
I remember, though, that my feet were
always cold. One night my sister fell and
hit her head on the ice and cut it badly.
What a scary sight she made as she head-
ed back to the car, her head bleeding bril-
liant red blood down her face. But we got
over it all.
Turtle Below the Ice
I remember as a kid ice skating on one
of the many ponds we have here on the
East End and getting down on my knees
and looking through the crystal -clear ice
and seeing a big turtle lying on the bot-
tom. All turtles in our latitude do this
hibernating act, even our land turtles like
the once - common box turtle, who digs
his way down into the soft duff of the
woods to spend the winter below frost
line. Here he'll stay until the warmth of
spring, like the heat from my little wood
stove out in the shop, will awaken him
into activity again.
That memory of looking through the
ice and seeing that turtle on the bottom,
Fire by the Pond
Other times we'd go up to Great Pond
and build a fire alongside and skate there.
It was funny, I never ventured too far
away from the light of the fire, while the
bigger boys would skate out into the mys-
terious darkness, only to return almost as
if by magic.
Sleigh riding down our favorite hill was
usually done in the daylight, but on special
occasions we'd go out at night. We kids
would work the daylight hours, but at
nighttime our parents and aunts would
come along. I'm not sure if they came
along to make sure everything was all
right, or if they came along to enjoy a ride,
which they often did. On one of our hills
trees made the ride all the more challenging
and I'm afraid we wrecked more than one
Flexible Flyer on those dangerous hills.
We lived in a sparsely settled part of the
"Neck" that had hardly any car traffic on
its roads. As a matter of fact, what we did
in those days could never be done on our
roads today because of the traffic. With
my mother at the wheel of the big old
Dodge with its plate -glass windows, we
kids would hang on to the bumper of the
75 Years Ago
Nov. 25, 1921
Advertisement: We guarantee $36 per week full time
or 75 cents an hour spare time selling guaranteed hosiery.
Agents making $75 to $125 a week. Good hosiery is an
absolute necessity; you can sell it easily. Our fall line ready at
pre -war prices. Eagle Hosiery Mills, Darby, Pa.
Village Nall Moves Ahead: Greenport Village Hall,
the lower floor of which has been used as an engine house
since its construction, is being remodeled into offices for the
village clerk and supervisor. The old engines and other fire-
fighting apparatus have been stored at the electric light plant.
One room in the building will be furnished for the newly
organized exempt firemen's company. When the alterations
are completed, Greenport will have an up -to -date village hall.
Contractor Isaac Corwin is doing the work.
50 Years Ago
Nov. 29, 1946
Historical Society's First Meeting: The first
meeting of the newly organized Stirling Historical Society
since the adoption of the constitution and by -laws will be held
on Saturday evening, Dec. 7, in the auditorium of the
Greenport School at eight o'clock. Charter memberships in
this new historical society, which embraces the territory from
Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
ALL ABOARD —The snow showers we had last week brought back memo-
ries of when parents and kids would get together and go sleigh riding down
their favorite hill. Today it's hard to find a hill that hasn't been taken over by the
progress of our times.
car to be whipped over the frozen surface
of the roads. The thing I remember most
about those hair - raising rides was when
the runners of the sleigh would break
through the snow or ice and scrape along
the hard surface of the road. Then a show-
er of brilliant yellow sparks would fly up
and add to the excitement.
But everything then wasn't just thrills
and excitement. There'd be long moon-
light walks around the Neck or over to
our aunt's house, where we'd be invited
in for hot drinks and cookies before head-
ing back home.
Later as I grew up and left those kids'
"games" behind, I'd take to the woods. I
learned the rudiments of hunting from my
dad, who in his youth had spent many a
day afield. Hunting was not only some-
thing to do for a young person living in
the country, but it provided a most impor-
tant element for the family table. Those
were lean years and any addition to the
table was heartily appreciated. It was
those days afield that started me on my
Mill Creek Bridge east to Dam Pond, are open.
Wayland Jefferson, Southold Town historian, will be the
guest speaker of the evening. His talk will be on the history of
Greenport Village and surrounding territory. Colonel Walter
Burns, president of the historical society, will explain in full
the objectives of the society and its plans for a permanent
home in which can be housed and placed on display relics
portraying the past history of the territory.
Advertisement: Until further notice, Bond Wonder
golden -crust white, rye or cracked wheat bread, 10 cents a
loaf. Sterling Super Food Self- Service Market, Greenport.
25 Years Ago
Nov. 25, 1971
Southold Has Zoning Ordinances, Finally:
Seven years after Southold Town felt its first sharp growing
pains, the Town Board enacted zoning ordinances to match its
recently adopted comprehensive development plan. They
were seven years of "blood, sweat and tears," said
Councilman Howard Valentine, who introduced what
Supervisor Albert Martocchia called "historic" resolutions at
the regular Tuesday board meeting.
Seconded by Justice Louis Demarest, the resolution was
approved by the entire board, with Justice Martin Suter
expressing reservations about "certain sections" that he felt
still need revision.
long appreciation and career of enjoy-
ment of the outdoors.
Not only did hunting take me afield but
the variety of spoils that came from our
creeks and bays gave me a new ap-
preciation for those words. Many's the
time in those days you could go over to
the creek and get all the oysters you want-
ed just for the picking. They lined the
banks in many places almost as thick as
the mussels you see there today.
Then on the sand bars that were in our
creeks before dredging, we'd go out and
dig piss clams. These fat, delicious soft
clams could be found just by walking
along and finding their holes. Occa-
sionally they'd squirt in the air as they
withdrew into their sandy home below.
Then a hole would be dug about a foot in
diameter and as deep as you could dig
before the sides started to cave in, and
there they'd be, all along the sides of the
hole. You'd just pick them up and put
them in your bucket. The trick, of course,
was not to break any of the soft shells and
you did this by continually bailing out the
sand and water and letting the sides fall
in. That was really clamming.
I guess you could say those hard times
had their good times and helped shape
many of us into what we are today. I'm
afraid this new generation coming along
has had too many things given to them
and in the giving they have lost touch
with the world around them. Somehow
we have to get back to what's truly
important and try to bypass the trivia of
today's commercial world.
Bicycles Needed
RIVERHEAD— Bicycle dona-
tions are now being collected and
refurbished to be given as gifts to
less- fortunate individuals during
the holiday season by Island Cycle
Center. Past drives have sent bikes
to Family Service League, Timothy
Hill Children's Ranch, The United
Way and other community help
groups.
To help reach this year's goal of
100 bicycles by Dec. 15, call 369-